Mark on the Shore

Mark’s Score   8.4

I have three reasons why I avoid our parks and trails in the summer; 1) it is too hot, 2) the parks are full of tourists, and 3) this is low country so walking in our parks in the summer is a constant battle with bugs. But as I was walking on the Island Nature Trail, I realized there is a fourth reason for walking in our parks in the autumn, the light and colors of fall. 

The Island Nature Trail was built and is maintained by the Town of Chincoteague on property that was once owned by the Accomack County School Board. The trails were built in 2005 on one of the last tracks of undeveloped land on the island. There are two trails in the park, a paved trail on the south side of Smith Drive and a “natural” trail on the north side. Both can be easily walked in under an hour. The purpose of the trails is to provide recreational space for tourists and locals, observe wildlife, and experience natural vegetation. The trails became a demonstration site for Virginia’s Plant Eastern Shore Natives campaign. The town works with the Eastern Shore Virginia Master Gardeners to produce a guide of the park’s native vegetation. 

It was a beautiful crystal-clear autumn day, the shadows were long, the light had a golden hew, and the plants had started to put on their autumn colors, so a perfect day for a walk on the Island Nature Trail. It was just past lunchtime when I pulled into the parking lot, which is located next to the dog park. Though the day was perfect hiking weather, there were only two other cars in the lot. I decided to take the southern trail first, it is frankly the prettier of the two trails. 

There are several things that make this park special. The town emphasizes how the park protects one of the last pieces of undeveloped land on the island, but calling it land, may be overstating things a bit. As you walk this trail you quickly realize that Chincoteague Island’s elevation is best measured in inches and not feet. The trail is only inches above sea level, and the brackish water of the bay laps the edges of the trail. But the real beauty of this park is the emphasis on native vegetation. 

You are walking through wetland forests here, populated with alder, eastern white, and maritime pine. You don’t see a great many maritime pines in this area, and it is worth walking the Island Nature Trail to observe the multiple stands of these majestic trees, piercing the cobalt blue skies of autumn. The sides of the trail were littered with chokeberries whose leaves had turned fire red. 

For me, the summer is my down season, I dislike the heat, the crowds, and the bugs are brutal. But that is all quickly forgotten and forgiven when the region’s natural beauty becomes mine to enjoy, free of tourists, in the cool of a beautiful autumn day. 

What else is there to do in Chincoteague?

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